[EricH]

Originally Posted by BotDesigner

We didn't flip ourselves in front of the batter, they flipped us in front of the batter. So even if we were in front of the batter in the last 20 seconds it was because we were forced to be there. G11 would not apply if we lost comms directly in front of the batter. By the yellow card it was acknowledged that the flip was intentional (or could have been avoided) and therefore it was their fault that we were in front of the batter. Their fault, their penalty.

It was also their fault that they didn't move you AHEAD of time. Right? So now YOU're eligible for a G11 by arguing that they need a G11 (after all, you're arguing for them to get a foul for strategies aimed at causing you to get a penalty, which is itself a strategy aimed at causing them to get a penalty). Just some food for thought.

Look, I've seen some robots simply avoid those situations as best they could. Others take advantage. Your one and only chance is to talk it over with the head ref, who will tell you that there is nothing they can do, the rules require that they get free scales (though if your robot was incapacitated, bringing THAT up would likely be of interest to the head ref). Your next best chance it to tell the GDC in an email to frcteams@firstinspires.org that their ruling that it didn't matter who initiated contact caused your team to be (short version) screwed over. You'll probably get a nice email back something to the effect that they're sorry, but they will not change the rule or the match outcome, but will consider how to avoid that next year.